The Crucial Ingredient
}} The Order discusses why Odin may have chosen to give Hurak the prophecy despite not wanting to end the world: to allow Durkon to help defeat Xykon. Cast * The Order of the Stick ** Roy Greenhilt ◀ ▶ ** Elan ◀ ▶ ** Haley Starshine ◀ ▶ ** Belkar Bitterleaf ◀ ▶ ** Vaarsuvius ◀ ▶ * Mr. Scruffy ◀ ▶ * Blackwing ◀ ▶ * Tinna ◀ ▶ * Firuk Blackore ◀ ▶ Transcript Haley: Look, he's not my god or anything, but it's a little scary to think that he could've just stopped this from happening and didn't. Roy: Well... we've already thwarted Xykon's plans three times, right? We needed Durkon to pull that off. Roy: What if, without Durkon, we all end up dead somewhere in the middle of the first dungeon, and Xykon finishes his plan and takes over? Roy: Odin might not want Hel to win, but maybe he wants Xykon to win even less. Roy: Durkon getting turned into a vampire is just an unfortuante side effect of doing what needed to be done to stop Xykon. Firuk: Couldnae 'e haf sent one o' 'is own clerics, then, 'stead of ruinin' tha poor lad's life? Roy: Absolutely, he could have—if what we needed was a cleric. Roy: not if what we needed... Roy: ...was Durkon. Roy: Durkon is the one who talked me into giving the rest of you a chance in the first place, after all. Haley: When you got killed fighting Xykon, he did snap me out of feeling sorry for myself. Vaarsuvius: He had nothing but kind words when I was at my lowest, following my... ill-advised bargain. Elan: He convinced Miko that Roy wasn't evil! For a while, at least. Belkar: I'm not going to say something all poignant, so don't ask. Belkar: ... Belkar: He didn't blame me. Roy: Any other cleric worth his Wisdom probably would have given up on us for being grossly incompetent, both individually and as a group, bur Durkon stuck it out. Haley: OK, I guess that sorta makes sense, but... if the prophecy is grue then we have no chance here. Odin already said that Hel is going to win. Roy: Did he? Roy: His prophecy said there'll be death and destruction—which Evil Durkon is already dishing out. Roy: Maybe it's already been fulfilled, and what happens next is up to us. Haley: So, Odin probably knows what's going to happen next, but we don't? Roy: Yeah. I mean, same as always, right? Elan: Also, Durkon was good for a lot of tree-related punchlines at the end of comics like this. Belkar: I know, right? I feel like me and the bird are working double-time just to pick up the slack! D&D Context * Wisdom is the prime requisite ability score for clerics. It gives them bonuses and governs what level spells they can cast. Trivia * Durkon has played a crucial interpersonal role in the group: ** Durkon talked Roy into letting the other join the Order of the Stick in On the Origin of PCs. ** He snapped Haley out of feeling sorry for herself in #444. ** He had kind words for Vaarsuvius after the disastrous Soul Splice in #667. ** He convinced Miko that Roy wasn't evil (for a while), in #202. ** He didn't blame Belkar for his death at the hands of Malack in #877. * Durkon's fear of trees is a running punchline in many comics. The fear is normal among dwarves in the comic. External Links * 1098}} View the comic * 536016}} View the discussion thread